“Car accident,” she said. She stared down at her fingers on the table top. “It’s been about a year. We moved up here a few months ago because we have family here, and our uncle kind of pressured us to move.”
“You’re not from Chicago?”
“No,” she said, “Quincy.”
I thought it was a little town near St Louis, but I wasn’t sure. I wondered if she was close to her uncle or if her brother was. I wondered if she wanted to move or felt forced into it. There were a hundred questions I wanted to ask just so I could learn about her, listen to her voice, and watch her eyes when she told me.
Maybe it was the drinks or the stupid joke, but she did decide to open up. She told me how much she missed her parents and how her brother had been trying to help; he just wasn’t. She talked a little about her uncle, who lived in a huge mansion, and how he wanted them to both live with him. Her brother had done so, but she took up an apartment after being there just a few weeks, preferring to live on her own.
“He wants me to move back in with them,” Milena said. “I don’t even quite understand why, but he’s really insisting on it. Actually, I think our uncle is insisting, and Micah is just bringing me the message. Whatever it is, I’m sick of it.”
“I can understand that,” I replied with a nod. “I live with my family, and it can be a pain in the ass.”
“It is,” she agreed. “I know they’re just trying to help – to look after me – but I want to look after myself.”
I nodded meaningfully, and she looked up at me and smiled a little.
“Thanks, Nick.”
“For what?”
“Just...for hanging out with me.”
Before I could really respond, I heard someone calling her name from across the bar.
“Milena!”
A dude in a dark jacket and jeans yelled across the bar and headed straight for us. He had slightly darker blond hair than Milena’s, but their features were similar enough to make their relationship obvious – this had to be the brother.
“Jesus, Micah!” she said with a heavy sigh. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Well, you shouldn’t be here in the first place,” Micah snapped. He glanced over to me with narrowed eyes and then completely dismissed me. “I’m taking you home.”
“I’m not really ready to go home,” Milena said. “I was actually kind of thinking I’d hang out here for a while with my friend.”
I felt my skin warm at the word.
“No, you’re not.” The guy didn’t even glance at me, just reached down and grabbed onto her elbow, which she shook loose.
“Dude,” I said with a smile, “she’s a big girl, and-”
“Fuck you,” he snapped. Though he glanced at me enough to size me up, he didn’t really acknowledge me at all. I obviously wasn’t big enough to be a concern for him because he kept going on. “Did I ask you for some sort of opinion or anything? No? Didn’t think so.”
He turned back to Milena, who rolled her eyes and looked away from him. I looked back and forth, trying to figure out if I should step in or not. I wasn’t going to let him take her against her will – no way in hell – but I was also pretty sure she might take offense if I interfered, like she wasn’t capable of handling him on her own.
“Home,” he said. “Now.”
“You are not Dad,” Milena yelled back at him. “I am not going anywhere.”
“Yeah, you are!” he insisted.
I barely heard him at that point because those beautiful, magical eyes were filling up with tears and making my chest ache. I took a step forward and placed myself not quite in between them but with my shoulder moving in that direction. Putting space between them seemed really important.
“You should go,” I said quietly as I looked up at him and realized what a damn big guy he was. “She said she’s not leaving just yet. I’ll make sure she gets home okay.”
“Get the fuck out of my way!” Micah growled at me. He moved forward a bit, and one hand pressed sharply against my shoulder, which didn’t send me reeling or anything, but I had to take a step back to keep my balance.
The next thing I knew, Evan was between us.
He didn't say anything at first - just used his body to put distance between me and Milena’s brother. Once he had us separated, he just stared at the dude, and the look in his cold eyes was one I'd seen before.
“What the fuck-” Micah started to say, but he must have seen something in Evan’s eyes that made him stop. Then his eyes widened, and there was no doubt that the look was one of recognition. He looked back to me, his eyes wider still. Then he took a half step away from the ex-Marine and glanced at his sister.
“Who the fuck are you hanging out with?” he said in a nearly breathless voice. He look to me and then back to Milena with blazing eyes. “What the fuck, Milena?”
“Just leave,” Milena told him. “Please – I’ll call you tomorrow, but you need to go, okay?”
He looked at her in disbelief but slowly backed away. A moment later, he was quick-stepping right out of the bar altogether. Evan stayed completely still except for his eyes, which followed Milena’s brother as he left. As soon as the door shut and Micah was out of the building, Evan turned back to the table where I had been before and grabbed his jacket.
“I've got to go,” he said.
“Evan,” I said quietly but seriously. He looked at me, and I could see the intent in his eyes.
I knew I wasn’t getting the whole story behind what was going on between Milena and her brother, but I was pretty sure she didn’t want him either beaten or – more likely – dead because of it. There was also a feeling of dread inside of me as I caught on to what had escaped me before – the Russian names and Micah’s attitude.
They were part of the Outfit, no doubt. Not Milena – I didn’t believe that – but her brother definitely was, which meant her uncle was as well. Not only were they a mob family but a Russian one as well.
My life was turning into West Side Story.
The only difference was, she didn’t seem to know she was in the rival gang, and I couldn’t really see her hanging out a window singing about herself.
Evan knew it, though. He glared at me.
“No,” I said, and though his eyes narrowed, he backed down. Somewhere in his warped sense of morality, I was the boss’s son and needed to be obeyed. He didn’t agree with it. He didn’t like it, but he would go along with it.
For now.
By tomorrow, he’d be talking to Dad about it, and I didn’t know what I would do then. That would be left for tomorrow, though. For now, I just wanted Milena to smile again.
“I’ve got this,” I said to Evan.
His chest rose and fell with a deep breath before he gave me a curt nod and walked back to the table with Jonathan and the others.
“What the fuck was that?” Milena asked quietly.
Grabbing the barstool, I pulled it around the table and sat up close to her.
“Milena,” I said quietly, “I really like you, and I don't want to lie to you.”
“So don't.”
“Wasn't planning to.” I sighed. “It's just that...there's shit I can't talk about.”
She eyed me, and the gaze was like Medusa’s. I mean, there weren’t any snakes in her hair or anything like that, but she was turning me to stone.
Well, part of me.
“Including telling me who the big, scary guy is and why it seems like he was going to walk out of here and beat the shit out of my brother?”
If he was lucky.
“Yeah,” I answered aloud, “like that.”
The way she was looking at me was most certainly debating…deciding…determining. In the back of my head, I knew I should say something else – that this was the time to lie, but I just couldn’t. I was too entranced with her.
She shook her head slowly.
“Maybe I don’t want to know,” she muttered.
“Probably not,” I said with a
little smile. “Maybe you could just come hang out with my friends for a bit?”
Milena glanced around the bar and then picked up her purse and followed me to the other tables. Everyone was into at least their third drink, and the group was pretty loud. I introduced Milena to everyone, and Jonathan gave me a strange look.
At one point, he leaned over and nudged me.
“Since when do you actually like a girl instead of just faking it?” he asked.
I stared at him for a moment, wondering just how he could tell. He chuckled and was about to say something when his arm was jostled by an addition to the group, and beer went everywhere.
“Come on, buy me a shot.”
Evan Arden’s eyes darkened and shifted to the side as he glared at the guy.
It was the dude with the birthday again, leaning against the table and obviously completely sloshed. He was also the least observant person in the world as well. I mean, if nothing else, he was trying to get the most deadly man in the city to buy him a drink. If that didn’t count as stupid, I didn’t know what did.
“I’ll git ya one,” Jonathan finally said.
I got the impression he was actually trying to save the poor dude’s life. I could see the tension in Arden’s neck as his hands clenched slightly. His eyes narrowed at Jonathan as he waved at the server.
“There’s a catch, though,” Jonathan told the kid. “The catch is, I git to decide what shot yer gonna do.”
The drunken idiot agreed.
When the server came over, Jonathan had her get out her notepad and take down his instructions.
“I need a shot that’s half vodka and half half-n-half,” he told her.
“What?” she asked through her lashes. Her eyes blazed.
“I ain’t finished,” he said. “Now, once you have both in the glass, I want ya to microwave it just a few seconds – git it to about body temperature. You know…what d’ya call it?”
“Lukewarm,” Evan said without moving his eyes from his beer.
“Right! Make it lukewarm.” The server glanced from Jonathan’s face to her notepad and wrote something down. “Then put salt on the rim and bring it on over. I’ll totally make it worth your while.”
She shook her head as she walked away.
“You’re crazy,” Evan muttered.
“This is gonna be custom,” Jonathan replied.
A couple minutes later, the server brought back the drink and placed it on the table.
The kid took the shot, and the look on his face was priceless.
“What do you call that drink?” Evan asked.
“Nu Jizz,” Jonathan replied.
“You’re sick.”
Jonathan laughed.
The kid tried to place the shot glass back on the table but missed entirely the first couple of times. On the last try, he threw more of his body into it. The high-top table jiggled on its base as the kid tried to hold onto it to steady himself, but it didn’t work.
“Uh oh,” I muttered. I pulled Milena away from the table as it toppled, taking everything – including the wasted kid – to the floor.
Jonathan laughed hysterically as Evan jumped back and away from the mess, his hand going instinctively to the small of his back. I felt myself tense as the muscles in his arms contracted, and for a moment it looked like he might pull out a gun and shoot the kid. I had no idea what I was going to do if the dude actually pulled his gun in the middle of the bar.
He didn’t, thankfully.
The drunken kid stayed right there on the floor of the bar, lying amongst a pile of napkins, bottles, plastic cups, and spilled beer.
“Fucking moron,” Evan muttered. “I’m outta here.”
He adjusted the back of his jeans, and the sleek metal of a weapon peeked out slightly before he concealed it again. Without another word, he slipped between the body of onlookers and out the back door.
“That guy is…interesting,” Milena said
“A little too interesting,” I told her. “You maybe want to get out of here?”
She eyed me, and the rainbows tried to mesmerize me again.
“I mean – just take a walk or something? Go out for a smoke? It’s too loud to talk in here.”
“Yeah, I’ll go for the smoke,” she replied.
We went out the side door to a little area where a bunch of people were lighting up. I pulled a pack out of my pocket and made sure to light her smoke before my own.
Hey – I know how to be a gentleman!
I leaned against the rail at the edge of the patio and tried to get a good angle where I could see her eyes in the lamplight.
“You’re a man-whore,” she suddenly informed me. “You’re famous for it, according to the women in your group. They warned me to stay away from you.”
A hundred viable, bullshit stories ran around in my head.
“They’re probably right,” I said honestly. “Really, though – I don’t think of you like that.”
“You don’t?”
“No.” I shook my head solemnly.
“Something wrong with me?” she snapped.
God, I was starting to love that attitude.
“Nothing, as far as I can tell.”
She eyed me a moment longer, and I basked in it. It made my skin warm, even in the cool night breeze, and also made me totally forget about my cigarette, which burned down without me taking more than a couple hits off of it.
“I feel like everything you’re going to say to me is a line you’ve used on someone else,” Milena said.
“Is that what they told you?” I gestured towards the window and the group at our tables.
“Something like that.”
“I’m not,” I assured her and wondered if I was assuring. “Normally I would – they’re right – but I’m not. Not now.”
“Why not?”
I had no idea how to put it into words.
“I don’t know,” I told her with a lame shrug. “I just don’t want to with you.”
“I don’t know if I can believe you or not,” she said.
My eyes went to the ground, and I looked at her carefully painted toenails in comfortable looking sandals. I had a creeping, distinct feeling I was losing here. It wasn’t just a matter of getting her to sleep with me, either. I mean, yeah – I definitely wanted to – but I’d be happy just being with her for the moment.
What the hell was happening to me?
“Still, there is something about you,” she murmured.
“Something good?” I asked as my eyes shot back up to her face. I hoped it was something good. I might have even prayed.
“I think so,” she said, “but I’m going to have to find out for sure.”
She took a quick step forward, placing herself between my legs, and pressed her warm lips against mine.
No doubt – I knew it wasn’t just her eyes I liked.
It was everything.
Chapter 5
Maybe being famous to just one person would be all right with me.
I kinda wanted to kiss her with our eyes open, just so I could keep watching hers, but that would have just been weird. No one kisses with their eyes open, do they? Besides, I still wasn’t too sure what she thought of me – notwithstanding the tongue in my mouth.
Her hands went up around my neck and tugged at the back of my head. I didn’t need much encouragement and quickly wrapped my arms around her waist to bring her against my body. My mouth moved against hers with practiced pressure, and on her tongue, I tasted the vodka and cranberry she had been drinking.
She broke away for a moment, panting. Her eyes darted around my face, and I was about to ask her what was wrong when she pulled me to her again, this time pressing her body tight against mine as she kissed me.
I couldn’t help but respond…some things are just automatic.
“I want that,” she growled against my lips as she placed her foot against the railing behind me, effectively opening her legs and pressing her warmth against my growin
g cock.
“Fuck,” I whispered as I was engulfed in heat. My hands dropped to her ass, and I pulled us closer together.
She broke away again but didn’t break our body contact. Her eyes looked into mine, and one of her hands reached up to cup the side of my face.
“This is so stupid,” Milena mumbled under her breath. “It is – I know it is. I don’t care though.”
“Does it have to be stupid?” I asked, immediately feeling stupid. “I mean, can’t we just…we could…”
I didn’t even know what I wanted to say – I only knew it was important for this to not end. I didn’t care if we stayed out here on the patio and made out, or smoked cigarettes, or went inside and sat with the others. I didn’t want this…this – whatever it was – to stop. I didn’t want her to go away.
“I live close by,” she said. “Five-minute walk.”
My eyes met hers, and I tried to focus on her words instead of just the shimmering colors. If any other girl had said the same words, I would have known immediately what she meant. With her, I was too afraid for it to not be true.
I didn’t want to chance it.
“I don’t want a one night stand with you,” I said.
She stared at me for a long moment.
“I don’t either,” she finally replied.
“I want…” I paused, unable to put my thoughts into words.
“Tell me this is more,” Milena said as she reached up and pulled my head a little closer to her. She stared me right in the eyes. “Tell me this isn’t more of your bullshit like those girls in there said it was. Tell me you’re feeling this.”
I nodded between her palms.
“This isn’t bullshit,” I said. “I want you. I don’t want to fuck this up.”
Her eyes blazed and then softened. She took a step back, and her fingers trailed down my arm until they reached my hand. She glanced over her shoulder back at the bar entrance and then led me away from the building and down the sidewalk.
Milena took me to a building I knew immediately – it was the same one Evan lived in. The reason her brother wanted her to move back in with the family was abundantly clear – my Dad owned most of the block. She was on one of the lower floors and faced the opposite direction from Evan’s.